Four Kiwi crews on the medal hunt at youth worlds

Four Kiwi crews on the medal hunt at youth worlds

The New Zealand sailors continued to thrive in the windy conditions at the youth sailing world championships in Corpus Christi, with two boats leading their fleets and another two in second with two days of racing remaining.
Josh Armit maintained his lead in the boy's Laser Radial, Veerle ten Have jumped back to the top in the girl's RS:X, Seb Lardies and Scott McKenzie remained in second in the boy's 29er and Greta Stewart and Tom Fyfe had a good day in the Nacra 15 fleet and are now up to second.

On top of that, Seb Menzies and Blake McGlashan, the youngest sailors in the NZL Sailing Foundation youth team, are sixth in the boy's 420.

It all means New Zealand are second behind the United States in the Nations Trophy, which counts the best four scores of team members each day.

The majority of the Kiwi sailors have clearly been enjoying the breezy 12-15 knots conditions they've encountered each day in Texas, not least of all ten Have who recorded two firsts and a fourth, a result she described as "average" given she hadn't previously finished outside the top three in the 17-strong girl's RS:X fleet.

The 17-year-old has started consistently well all week, which has given her options off the line, and her low upwind mode has been a real strength.

It's tight among the top three sailors - she holds a one-point lead over Italy's Giorgia Speciale with Great Britain's Islay Watson a further two points behind - and the trio look like sharing the medals given there's a big gap back to fourth. The boardsailors will have three more races tomorrow before one race on the final day - all fleets have one race on the last day.

“I love the conditions here. I really enjoy that it’s windy every day,” said ten Have, whose family emigrated to New Zealand from the Netherlands when she was young. “I think my speed’s just a bit faster, so that’s my biggest advantage. But Giorgia and Islay are really close. We’re always trading the top three places. We all have similar capabilities.

"I have been getting good, consistent results - I'm just trying to stay on top."
It's what Armit has been trying to do as well since he hit the front in the boy's Laser Radial on day two.

He banked a fifth and a fourth today and holds a narrow one-point lead over Argentina's Juan Cardozo, with Zac Littlewood from Australia a further eight points behind.

“I’ve been learning a lot during the week and really just enjoying the warm conditions,” said Armit, who placed fifth at last year’s youth worlds. “It’s great racing against my mates. There are quite a few boys up there to contend with, some from last year’s youth worlds and some new ones. The fleet size is quite different from back home, so I’m just trying to do my best and have some fun.”

Both the New Zealand boy's 29er and Nacra 15 crews were the top combinations in their respective fleets today.

Lardies and McKenzie bookended two seconds with a seventh and are now only one point behind the Norwegian pair of Mathias Berthet and Alexander Franks-Penty. They also have the best drop of anyone in the fleet - a ninth - meaning there is some pressure on other teams to remain consistent.

The Argentine pair of Teresa Romairone and Dante Cittadini look uncatchable in the Nacra 15, and hold a 20-point lead over Stewart and Fyfe, but the Kiwis enjoyed their best day on the water, backing up a race win with a fifth and fourth. Stewart and Fyfe hold a handy 10-point lead over the German crew in third with a gaggle of other combinations jostling for the minor placings in behind.

As many as 382 sailors from 66 countries are competing at the youth sailing world championships, which is the pinnacle event for youth sailors. Some of New Zealand’s top sailors have won titles at this level, including Chris Dickson (1978-80), Russell Coutts (1981), Dean Barker (1990), Tom Ashley (2002) and Sam Meech (2009).

Results and standings after the second day of the youth sailing world championships at Corpus Christi today:
Boy's 420 (23 boats)
1st: Joseph Hermus / Walter Henry (USA) (3) 2 1 1 - 4 points
2nd: Otto Henry / Roma Featherstone (AUS) (8) 7 2 2 - 11 pts
3rd: Kacper Paszek / Bartek Reiter (POL) 5 5 (19) 5 - 15 pts
6th: Seb Menzies / Blake McGlashan (NZL) 4 (13) 10 3 - 17 pts
Girl's 420 (22 boats)
1st: Carmen Cowles / Emma Cowles (USA) 1 1 (23 UFD) 1 - 3 pts
2nd: Vita Heathcote / Emilia Boyle (GBR) 4 2 1 (6) - 7 pts
3rd: Julia Minana Delhom / Silvia Sebastia Borso di Carminati (ESP) 2 (4) 2 4 - 8 pts
14th: Cara Higinbottom / Alice Floyd (NZL) 11 12 (15) 11 - 34 pts
Boy's 29er (25 boats)
1st: Mathias Berthet / Alexander Franks-Penty (NOR) 6 (8) 1 2 1 1 - 11 pts
2nd: Seb Lardies / Scott McKenzie (NZL) 3 1 5 (9) 3 4 - 16 pts
3rd: Henry Larkings / Miles Davey (AUS) 1 2 2 6 (10) 7 - 18 pts
Girl's 29er (23 boats)
1st: Pia Andersen / Nora Edland (NOR) 2 1 3 (17) 1 1 - 8 pts
2nd: Zoya Novikova / Diana Sabirova (RUS) (4) 3 1 3 2 2 - 11 pts
3rd: Berta Puig / Isabella Casaretto (USA) 5 6 2 1 (7) 5 - 19 pts
15th: Sophia Fyfe / Alice Haslett (NZL) 17 (24 UFD) 12 13 10 12 - 64 pts
Nacra 15 (24 boats)
1st: Teresa Romairone / Dante Cittadini (ARG) (3) 2 3 1 1 1 - 8 pts
2nd: Silas Muhle / Romy Mackenbrock (GER) 1 6 1 (10) 6 7 - 21 pts
3rd: Henri Demesmaeker / Frederique van Eupen (BEL) 2 1 (25 DNF) 3 9 6 - 21 pts
4th: Greta Stewart / Tom Fyfe (NZL) 10 (12) 4 9 2 2 - 27 pts
Boy's Laser Radial (58 boats)
1st: Josh Armit (NZL) (6) 3 1 1 - 5 pts
2nd: Zac Littlewood (AUS) 1 (8) 4 2 - 7 pts
3rd: Juan Cardozo (ARG) (7) 1 6 3 - 10 pts
Girl's Laser Radial (46 boats)
1st: Charlotte Rose (USA) (4) 1 1 1 - 3 pts
2nd: Emma Savelon (NED) 1 2 (6) 2 - 5 pts
3rd: Valeriya Lomatchenko (RUS) (6) 4 2 3 - 9 pts
22nd: Samantha Stock (NZL) (25) 23 18 24 - 65 pts
Boy's RS:X (27 boards)
1st: Geronimo Nores (USA) 1 1 1 (4) 1 2 - 6 pts
2nd: Nicolo Renna (ITA) 2 2 2 2 2 (3) - 10 pts
3rd: Fabien Pianazza (FRA) (6) 5 3 1 3 1 - 13 pts
9th: Max van der Zalm (NZL) 7 16 9 6 9 (19) - 47 pts
Girl's RS:X (17 boards)
1st: Giorgia Speciale (ITA) 2 (3) 3 1 1 1 - 8 pts
2nd: Veerle ten Have (NZL) 1 1 2 (3) 2 3 - 9 pts
3rd: Islay Watson (GBR) 3 2 1 2 (4) 2 - 10 pts
Full results here

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